Leona Maguire seeks some forward momentum in Mexico

Leona Maguire will seek to get some forward momentum going at this week’s Riviera Maya Open in Mexico, ahead of next week’s $12 million US Women’s Open.

The Cavan golfer missed her first cut of the season in the recent Mizuho Americas Open and, down to 71st in the Rolex world rankings, will be looking to get contending in tournaments at the Greg Norman-designed El Camaleon Golf Course at Mayakoba, which has hosted events on both the PGA Tour and LIV.

Maguire’s form has seen her record just one top 10 so far in the season-opening Tournament of Champions in a season that has truly shown the strength in depth of fields.

As Maguire put it, “[The LPGA Tour] is getting more and more competitive every year. There was a few cuts this year, three and four-under par cuts in LA and Phoenix, and there is not a whole lot of room for error. The leaderboards are very tightly bunched it seems every week and it doesn’t take much to move yourself up 20 spots, one shot here, one shot there, so it is just trying to put yourself in contention at the business end of things as much as you can.”

Humble Scheffler lets his golf do the talking and what else we learned from the PGA Championship

Scottie Scheffler following in footsteps of Woods and Nicklaus after PGA Championship win

US PGA: Scottie Scheffler eases to victory to claim third Major title

Maguire is the lone Irish player in Mexico while Séamus Power – also aiming to bounce back from a missed cut in the PGA at Quail Hollow – is also the only Irish player competing in the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, on the PGA Tour.

There are three Irish players competing in the Jabra Open on the Ladies European Tour, with Lauren Walsh, Anabel Wilson and Anna Foster looking to maintain their recent strong formlines.

Has anyone had a hole-in-one before 6.20am in Ireland?

Do we have a genuine contender for the earliest hole-in-one in Ireland?

A number of golf clubs have innovatively started to hold “Golfing into Light” competitions to coincide with the established “Darkness into Light” walks which raise awareness and much-needed funds for Pieta House.

Among the clubs to hold such an event on May 10th was Foxrock Golf Club in south Dublin, where one of the groups to tee off in semidarkness at 5am consisted of former president and captain Jeannette Kealy, current lady captain Phil Hobbs, Gerry Halpenny and Jeannette’s sister Rosario.

On the par 3 fifth hole, Jeanette’s perfectly struck tee-shot with a hybrid not only found the green but ran up to the flagstick and dropped into the hole for an ace. The time on the clock beside the green showed 6.12am.

Can anyone beat that?

Word of Mouth

“He doesn’t care about fame, he doesn’t care about money. Yes, he gets paid, but what inspires him is so pure. It’s almost like he is an amateur, playing for the love of the game and the love of the competition. It’s like he’s Bobby Jones” – words of Scottie Scheffler’s caddie Ted Scott, who no doubt was also thankful for the 10 per cent share which normally comes from carrying a winning bag. Scheffler earned $3.42m for his success in the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow.

By the Numbers: 1-2

Although he missed the cut at the US PGA Championship, Shane Lowry remains in second place – behind Rory McIlroy – in the updated European Ryder Cup team standings for the match against the United States at Bethpage Black in September. The top six ranked players following the Betfred British Masters ending on the 24th of August, 2025, will qualify for Team Europe, with captain Luke Donald then naming six wild card selections.

On this day: May 20th, 1990

Richard Boxall of England playing his second shot to the 18th hole from the fairway bunkers during his second round in the Heineken Classic in Perth. Photograph: Stephen Munday/Allsport

Known to us now as one of the voices of Sky Sports’ golf commentary team, Richard Boxall’s career had been one of near-misses and heartbreak before finally managing to win what would prove to be his only European Tour title, in laying claim to the Lancia Martini Italian Open at Monza.

Boxall opened with rounds 65-64 to take a firm grip on the tournament and followed with a third round 70 that saw him take a five strokes lead into the final round in Milan where José María Olazábal emerged as his main challenger.

The Englishman would later reveal he had prayed for rain the night before the final round in the hope there would be no play and reduced to 54 holes, but the weather gods weren’t listening and he would have to finish the job himself.

“You are five ahead and all you can do is mess it up,” recalled Boxall, who birdied the first three holes of the final round only for Olazabal to also go birdie-birdie-birdie. “I thought, ‘Christ, why don’t you just let me win one will you? You have got loads of these things’.”

Boxall’s final round 68 for a total of 21-under-par 267 was sufficient to win his one and only title on the circuit, finishing five clear of the Spaniard.

Social Swings

Best player in the world? Guilty. – a tongue-in-cheek marketing play from Nike, celebrating their world number one Scottie Scheffler’s win in the PGA a year on from his arrest at last year’s championship in Valhall.

Congratulations to Scottie Scheffler on his superb PGA Championship victory at Quail Hollow and first major championship as a father! What an incredibly special moment to share with your wife and son. Keep doing the right things on all fronts and the sky is the limit for you, my friend – Gary Player reflecting on Scheffler’s third major, bringing him to halfway in the career Grand Slam (he has yet to win the US Open and The Open). Scheffler has two Masters and now a Wannamaker Trophy.

Congrats to Scottie Scheffler on an incredible performance. Clearly #1 in the world – Phil Mickelson crossed the divide from LIV to the PGA Tour to salute Scheffler, who increased his lead in the official world rankings to 5.6 points average over Rory McIlroy.

Know the Rules

Q In match play, a player mistakenly picks up their ball-marker believing they have won a hole. What is the ruling?

A This is covered under rule 9.7b: If the player, or their opponent in match play, lifts the player’s ball-marker or causes it to move (when the ball is lifted and not yet replaced), the player or opponent gets one penalty stroke.